Coffee, Close-Ups, and Yacht Glam at Ralph Lauren’s Café

One good thing to come out of the fashion industry's disruption (by way of e-commerce, direct-to-consumer brands, the internet in general) is that brands have to think harder and more creatively about how they present their clothes every season. Doing a runway show just because it's always been done doesn't make sense anymore. Countless marketing surveys and articles tell us that the modern (read: Millennial) consumer wants an experience over a "thing". And Ralph Lauren has shown itself to be adept at offering an experience.

To showcase its spring collection, Ralph Lauren invited editors and buyers and influencers to breakfast, transforming the brand's flagship Madison Ave. store into Ralph's Café (which will become a real café with reservations available on OpenTable). Supermodels Carolyn Murphy, Joan Smalls, and Bella Hadid slowly swanned through the cafe, pausing to make direct eye contact with guests seated around café tables and booths. It was a throwback to fashions shows in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and allowed for an incredibly up close view of the clothes that the runway doesn’t afford. All the better to admire the “starlet on a yacht” themed collection: wide leg pants and knit tops, floor-skimming skirts, nautical blazers, and sequin gold dresses for coming ashore. Will shoppers pay for a piece of the experience?